1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic money charger which performs an electronic money deposit process with respect to a storage medium which stores an electronic money balance in an electronic money service used for, for example, an electronic ticket, electronic payment or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as this kind of electronic money charger, there has been known an electronic money charger which is provided with a reader/writer which reads and writes data with respect to a storage medium in which an electronic money balance used in an electronic money service has been stored, and which performs an electronic money deposit process by adding an amount of an inserted currency to the electronic money balance in the storage medium via the reader/writer (for example, see Japanese Patent Publication 2003-36466).
However, since this electronic money charger can perform the electronic money deposit process in itself, if the electronic money charger has been brought out to a place which is different from an installation place during normal operation, inserted banknotes received within the deposit apparatus may be removed, and in addition, it may be possible to fraudulently deposit an electronic money with respect to the storage medium.
Consequently, there has been known an electronic money charger which is provided with a communication device connectable to a predetermined management server via a network, and which establishes connection to the management server via the communication device by using predetermined connection information stored in the communication device, subsequently performs an authentication process with respect to the management server, and performs the electronic money deposit process only if the authentication process has been normally completed.
However, in this case, since the communication device is provided in the electronic money charger, it is possible to connect to the management server via the communication device even if the communication device has been brought out along with a main body of the electronic money charger. Therefore, if the authentication process with respect to the management server has been normally completed, the electronic money may be fraudulently deposited.